


Golden Eyes

by E_K_Hannila



Series: Once Bitten [2]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Character Turned Into Vampire, Good Demons, M/M, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-07-04 01:36:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 9,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15831069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E_K_Hannila/pseuds/E_K_Hannila
Summary: Set one month after the events of "Once Bitten", Nathan and Matthew are happily living in a Sanctuary, hidden away from the rest of the world. But Nathan soon becomes aware of events occurring in the real world, and has to choose between the life of his brother or his lover.





	1. Chapter 1

I swam lazy circles, watching ripples roll outward from the two sets of feet dangling in the water. Matt and I had decided to spend some time at the lake, and of course Andrew had to come along, since the lake was only half inside the boundary line of the Sanctuary, and there was always a chance the water would disrupt the field. He couldn’t swim; being an earth demon, he would sink straight to the bottom if he came into the water.

I stood at the bottom of the lake, my feet sinking into the icy mud, and listened to their conversation. At first, it was difficult to make out more than the syllables, but slowly the sounds resolved into words.

“Must be lonely,” Matt said. “You were the only one here, before we came to stay.” 

“It is sometimes,” Andrew replied. “But I chose to take care of this Sanctuary, it wasn’t forced on me. And it’s not a totally solitary existence; I have someone hiding out about three months total out of the year.”

“But the other nine, you’re alone,” Matt said. “Haven’t you ever wanted a… a partner, or something?” 

“See, I did have a partner, for almost 200 years,” Andrew said. “Sabrina and I were married sometime around… oh, I’d say first few years of the 19th century.” He sighed, leaning back a bit. “We went to see the first performance of _Fidelio_ on our honeymoon.” 

“Wow,” Matt said. “If I may ask, what happened to her?” 

“She was from the East Coast,” Andrew replied. “Had her very own mountain. And, well… you know all the coal mining that’s been going on over there? It, uh, it’s not something we’re really meant to deal with. Erosion is slow enough for us to adapt, but mining can…” He trailed off. 

The two of them were silent for a long moment. “I’m sorry,”  Matt said quietly. 

My focus was broken by a rather large fish swimming by. I caught it by the tail, twisting its head off in one swift motion and chowing down.  _Delicious._

The head floated to the surface as I ate, and Matt reached out to grab it. “Wil is gonna love this,” he said, setting it on the dock before diving in. 

He swam down to meet me, and I passed him the last of the fish. “I saved this for you,” I said. 

Matt nodded, picking at the scales and carefully taking a few bites. His brow furrowed, and he pointed to the surface.  _Up there._

I nodded as well, kissing him on the cheek and pulling my feet free of the mud.  I swam to the surface, clearing my lungs to switch from water to air, and hauled myself up onto the dock, pulling Matt up after me. 

“Thanks for the fish head,” Matt said. “Let’s see if I can get Wil to like me.” 

“He doesn’t like anyone, not even me,” Andrew said with a chuckle. “But you can try. Come on, we should head back. Nate, you’ve got an appointment, right?” 

“Yep, in about an hour,” I said. “Which means I should get changed and get going.” 

“What’s the appointment?” Matt asked. “You didn’t tell me anything about an appointment.” 

“It’s nothing too important,” I said. “I’ll be home for the movie marathon, don’t worry.” 

\-----

Matt tossed the fish head onto the front porch, and a large black cat pounced on it, devouring it in a matter of moments. While he ate, Matt slowly edged over, sitting down a few feet away from the cat. 

“Hey, Wilford,” he said quietly. I suppressed a laugh. 

The cat ceased eating and looked up at Matt with the most intense, almost human, stink eye I’d ever seen. He licked his chops, then picked up the fish head and went to the furthest possible point on the porch to continue his meal. 

Matt looked up at me sadly. I shrugged. “He’s not gonna like you instantly.” 

Matt sighed, standing up. The motion startled Wilford, who darted over, landing two quick smacks on Matt’s ankle and calf before racing off to the sheep pasture. 

“What the fuck was that for?” Matt said, half to himself. 

“Don’t stand up so fast,” Andrew said. 

Matt mumbled something under his breath, pushing his way past us and heading inside. 

\-----

“You remember what to do, right?” Andrew said. “If you feel like you’re being watched or followed, just tap the center stone.” He pressed down on the citrine set on the ring, and a corresponding orange-yellow light on the wall flickered.

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “I’ve got my knife, my fangs, and my voice.” 

“Still,” Andrew said, giving me the ring. “You never know who you’ll meet. Stay safe out there.” 

I nodded, heading out. 

\-----

“Let’s see, 2B, 2D, 2F…” I walked down the corridor, searching for the hotel room my “meeting” would be in. As I scanned the doors, I started to feel uneasy and looked back. 

A skinny boy, maybe sixteen years old, was watching me from the end of the corridor. He nearly jumped out of his skin when our eyes met, then  ran away, vanishing down the stairwell. 

_Weird._ He looked human enough, but there was something… off about him. 

I went back to my searching, running across 2T and heading inside. 

\-----

The meeting lasted an incredible three hours – I’d picked my client well.  Afterwards, she left, and I lay in bed for a few minutes, enjoying the residual tingle on my skin. 

_I should get going._

I took a shower and got dressed, then headed out.  As I got into the elevator, I heard someone who sounded as if they had a stuffed nose shout “Wait!” 

I put my hand on the door, holding it open as the skinny boy from earlier ran in. He edged into the corner, keeping his eyes on the ground and twitching faintly, then his arm shot out, hitting one of the buttons before he darted back to the corner. 

“You alright, kid?” I said. 

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” he stammered. “You’re Nathan, right?” 

“Who wants to know?” I asked suspiciously. 

“My… dad wants to talk to you,” the boy said. “He said he’s been looking for you.” He glanced up, meeting my eyes briefly, and I saw that his eyes were mismatched; one was hazel and the other was icy blue. _Werewolf? I’ve never seen one so young. Or skinny._

The elevator dinged, and he stepped out, watching me and not-so-subtly nodding towards one of the doors, as if he wanted me to follow him. 

I knew better than to do so. 

“You sure you’re not coming?” he said, looking around nervously. “It’s… it’s really important.” 

“I think I know what he wants me for,” I said, “and I’m not looking forward to it.” I waved as the elevator doors closed. 

As I walked back to my car, I felt a twinge of concern. There had been real fear in his eyes, in those last few moments. He would have to go back to his “father” empty handed. 


	2. Chapter 2

_One Week Earlier_

 -----

“Race ya!”

Jack watched as the three little elementals blazed across the concrete platform towards a steel fence. When they reached the fence, they all had different reactions to it: one, a little lightning-elemental girl, stopped on a dime, her bright blond hair flying out in all directions as she approached the massive conductor; the second, a water elemental (of indeterminate gender) who looked much like a preteen Nate, crashed into the fence; and the third, a little boy who seemed to be made of clouds, simply passed through, running off the edge and walking back as if he had never left the ground.

Jack smiled, putting an arm around Tycheros, his “lover” – it was really no more than a fling, and they both knew it, but the gesture was still appreciated. The pale wraith was nearly insubstantial, but still responded to the embrace, leaning into Jack’s shoulder.

“They’re strange little creatures,” the wraith said, blue flames flickering under his skin.

“Elementals?” Jack asked.

Tycheros laughed. “Children.”

The water elemental ran over, holding something small and blue. S/he held it out to Jack, who saw that it was a bottlecap.

“Thanks,” he said, putting it in his pocket. “Why did you pick that up?”

“Water… tie,” the child said, looking down at hir shoes. “Water with it.”

S/he clearly didn’t have that good a grasp of English, but the message was clear enough. S/he wanted the bottlecap because s/he could sense that it used to be on something that held water.

The other two kids drifted over, neither completely touching the ground. “I’m tired,” the girl said, rubbing her eyes. “Can we go home?”

“Of course,” Jack said. “Tych? You ready?”

“Yeah,” Tycheros mumbled, staring off into space. The blue flames had turned pale violet, and Tycheros flickered, then vanished.

Jack unconsciously gathered the kids closer, looking around. “Who’s there?” he said, trying to sound confident.

In an instant, the three kids disappeared, leaving Jack alone on the rooftop. And then, he vanished as well.

 -----

_Present Day_

 -----

I parked in the bushes near the entrance to the Sanctuary, walking up the road. Every so often I would look back over my shoulder, just in case I was still being followed.

Andrew met me halfway, handing me a thermos. “You missed dinner,” he said. “Matt made sure to save some for you.”

“Thanks,” I said, sipping the deliciousness in the thermos.

“So, how was the meeting?” Andrew asked. “I don’t need details, I just need to know you’re okay.”

“There was this weird kid,” I said. “Super skinny, shaking like a Chihuahua. Mismatched eyes like a werewolf, but –” I snorted. “There was no way. No way this kid was a werewolf.”

“What did he look like?” Andrew said quickly.

“Uh, scruffy brown hair, fair skin, hazel and blue eyes, a little scar on his chin and another on the back of his jaw,” I said. “Why? Do you know him?”

“You shouldn’t have gone out,” Andrew said, pushing me towards the house. “Come on, we’ve gotta get under cover.”

“What’s going on?” I said, running to the porch. Andrew grabbed my arm, pulling me inside and locking the door behind us.

“Matt, go to the basement,” Andrew barked, pointing to the door next to the kitchen stove. Matt nodded, running to the kitchen.

“What is going on?” I repeated more loudly.

“That kid you saw is indeed a werewolf,” Andrew said. “His master is one of the most powerful people in the world right now, and he went to college with Mark. If that pup is here, then so is his master. They know you’re still within driving distance of the city now, which means this is the only place you could be. Which means you need to hide.”

I ran to the basement, where Matt was already hiding. He was sitting in the corner, shaking a little. I sat down next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders and hugging him tight.

“They’ve found us, haven’t they?” Matt whispered, hiding his face in my shoulder.

“No,” I said, rocking him gently. “We just have to be sure we’re safe.”

We stayed like that for several minutes before I heard anything from upstairs. There were two – no, three sets of footsteps on the front porch, and light knocking.

“Hello?” Andrew’s voice was muffled, but I could make out his words easily. “Anything I can do for you?”

“It’s good to see you, too, Andrew, but I’m afraid we’re here on business,” said a familiar voice – not quite as deep as Mark’s, but similar cadence. I peered through the crack under the door, seeing a pair of shiny brown dress shoes as well as Andrew’s bare feet.

“What’s the rush?” Andrew said, subtly blocking the door. “I can help you with whatever this business is, but it’s been so long, I couldn’t let you go without –”

“Cut the crap, we know they’re here,” said Mark, pushing past him. “Nathan! Get your ass out here!”

I nearly fell backwards down the stairs, racing away from the door. Heavy footsteps moved towards it, and light flooded into the basement as the door swung open. A gigantic silhouette appeared in the doorway. I couldn’t see his face, but it was clearly not Mark – even _he_ wasn’t a giant like this guy.

“Nathan?” he said, his arms folded over his chest.

I slowly stepped into the rectangle of light in defeat. “Please don’t hurt Matt,” I said.

“We’ll talk about him later,” the man said, eyeing Matt, who was still hiding in the corner. “You two get up here, before Mark and I come down.”

I slowly climbed the stairs, going to the living room and falling onto the couch. Mark sat down in a chair across from me, while the other man stood by the door. Now that I could see him better, I recognized him – Tyler, one of Mark’s closest friends. Neither of them looked too glad to see me.

“So,” I said, folding my hands in my lap, “what do you want?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the ending of this chapter seems a little forced, it's because I was really fighting to get to my 1000-word goal. If I'd stopped where the chapter originally ended, I'd have been in the 800s.


	3. Chapter 3

“Jack has gone missing,” Mark said. “He’s been gone for almost a week.”

“Yeah, and?” I said. “He’ll come back eventually, he always does.”

“This is not a time for jokes,” Tyler said. “He hasn’t been seen anywhere – if he had just headed out for a few days, someone would have found him in an arcade or something. There hasn’t been a sign of him.”

“So what do you expect me to do?” I said. “I sure as hell don’t know where he is.”

“You’re the only telepath in this room,” Mark said. “I can enhance psychic abilities, but I have none of my own.”

“Can’t you just hire a telepath or something?” I said, waving to Tyler. “You’re, what, a billionaire?”

Tyler growled under his breath and shifted his feet before speaking. “No, I cannot just ‘hire a telepath’. You’re the only person who knows Jack well enough to pick him out of a crowd.”

I sighed, putting my face in my hand. “How – how am I supposed to know you’re telling the truth? For all I know, Jack is asleep at home.”

“Nathan, I have never lied to you,” Mark said with a sigh.

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“Go look outside if you really think that, then,” Mark said, pointing at the door.

I glanced over at the half-open door. _He’s just baiting you,_ I told myself,  but I took it, heading outside. 

I  stood on the porch, resting my arms on the railing.  I could hear faint rustling out in the bushes and tall grass, so someone was definitely out here. 

“Hello?” I called. The rustling stopped, then a familiar skinny teen slowly walked out, looking somewhere between scared and ashamed. 

“I-I’m sorry,” he said, his hands behind his back. “Master said to stay out here.” 

“You’re Tyler’s, aren’t you?” I asked, coming down the steps hesitantly. The teen backed up a few steps, shivering from cold and fear. He still refused to meet my eyes. “It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you. You got a name?” 

“Ethan,” the boy mumbled.

“My name’s Na–” I started to introduce myself, but stopped when I remembered the encounter earlier today. “You already know my name.”

E than nodded slightly. “C-Can I come in? It’s a little chilly out.” 

“Of course,” I said, placing a hand on his shoulder and leading him inside. He sat down on the floor next to the couch, watching Tyler anxiously.

“Why did you bring him in?” Tyler said to me, paying no attention whatsoever to Ethan.

“Because it’s the middle of winter?” I replied. “Or have you not noticed that it’s practically snowing lately?”

Tyler didn’t respond.

“So,” Mark said quietly, in a tone that was rarely heard, “do you believe me now?”

_He has no way to prove to me that Jack is in trouble,_ I thought to myself.  _He knows I’ll have to leave the sanctuary, and Matt will be left unprotected. But if Jack really is in danger, and he… if he dies, it’ll be my fault._

“Promise me that Matt won’t be harmed,” I replied, after almost a full minute, “and I’ll come with you.” 

“Mark, we can’t –” Tyler started to speak, but Mark raised a hand, silencing him. 

“If we find Jack, I will personally make sure Matt is never hurt,” he said. “I swear on the Mount.” 

_Well, he’s sure as hell not gonna break that promise._ “All right,” I said, standing up. “Let me go talk to Matt first, and then we’ll go.” 

“C-Can I stay?” Ethan mumbled. “To – to protect Matt.” 

Tyler sighed, rolling his eyes. “I’ll talk to Andrew about it, see if he wants to keep an eye on you.”

\-----

I sat down on the bottom step next to Matt. “Mark says that he’ll make sure no one comes after you while we’re gone,” I said. 

“He can’t promise that,” Matt said. “After what I did… how could they just leave me alone?” 

“I wouldn’t be leaving if I didn’t trust him wholeheartedly,” I said. “We’ll only be gone a day or two. Four at the most. Then I’ll be back here, and I’ll never leave you alone again. And you won’t be completely alone.” 

“Andrew’s a nice guy, but his conversations get kind of… dull,” Matt said. 

“Not him,” I replied with a smile. “Remember that werewolf kid I told Andrew about earlier?” 

Matt’s eyes widened slightly, a hint of fear on his face. “A werewolf?” 

“Nah, he’s a sweetie,” I said. “Kinda jumpy, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly.” 

“Okay,” Matt said as the two of us stood up. 

We headed upstairs, and Matt almost went right back down when he saw Tyler. 

“No, it’s okay,” I said, putting a hand on Matt’s back. “Ethan?”

The teen jumped to his feet, running over. “Yes?” 

“You’re the werewolf?” Matt said in disbelief, looking him up and down. 

“Yeah,” Ethan said defensively. “I mean, I can’t shift except during a full moon, and when I do I’m not a good fighter, but I – I really am!” 

“It’s okay,” Matt said, relaxing slightly. “So, Nate tells me you’ll be staying?” 

Ethan nodded excitedly, glancing over at Tyler or Andrew every so often. “ Y-Yeah, I think so,” he said. 

“Well, I can’t say no to that now,” Andrew said with a slight smile. 

Ethan yelped with excitement, hugging Matt tight. “Yay!” 

_I hope he isn’t always like this,_ I thought, a smile creeping across my face.  _Matt’s never gonna get any sleep._

“Before you go, take this,” Mark said, handing a black ring to Matt and an identical one to me. “I have a feeling a promise won’t cut it, so this will be the proof you need.” 

I put on the ring, and as Matt put on his,  a red band on each started flickering almost imperceptibly, but regularly.  Matt’s was a little faster than mine. As I counted off the flickers, I figured out what exactly it was – the rings were linked, and would transmit the other person’s pulse. If Matt died or panicked, I would know instantly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I keep referring to Ethan as a teen when he’s actually 21, but I mean, look at the guy! (And for the purposes of this story, he’s about 16-17.)  
> Also, I’m sorry for posting this a day late – I was really stuck. In the future, if I miss a chapter, I’ll post one of Caurinus. (Speaking of Caurinus, I’m very sorry about the note in the last book telling you to read it – some of you may have been quite confused when it wasn’t there. I took it down because there were a few things I had to fix and polish up.)  
> And finally, here is Ethan in canine form: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/db/e3/95/dbe3952f9ed93381f37195aabb02942f.jpg


	4. Chapter 4

Matt went to the couch, sitting down and toying with an uncut ruby he’d found in the basement. Ethan sat at his feet, watching him silently.

“You okay?” Matt asked, once it was clear Ethan didn’t intend to move.

“Yes,” Ethan said.

“So… why are you sitting there?”

“Because… I dunno,” Ethan said quietly. “I’m supposed to.”

“Who ever said you were supposed to?” Matt said, scooting over and patting the couch cushion next to him. Ethan moved to the couch hesitantly.

“Tyler,” Ethan replied, looking down at the floor.

“Well, Tyler’s an asshole,” Matt said.

“That’s how it always is,” Ethan said. “Everyone treats me like that, and all the were-folk I’ve ever met are treated that way. That’s just how the world works.”

Matt stared at him in horror and disbelief for several seconds. “Wait a minute,” he said after a while. “Do – do they treat you like that because you’re a werewolf?”

“You people don’t?”

“No! Of course not!” Matt said defensively. “I mean, I don’t think most of us have ever even met werewolves, but if we did, we wouldn’t treat them like…” He paused, then started laughing. “You – all this time I’ve thought you were a slave, or a servant, or something. You’re a _pet_ , aren’t you?” 

Ethan nodded, thoroughly confused at this point. “I… guess that’s the word for it. More like  a  working breed.” 

“Like a border collie?” 

“Yeah, kinda. Or a German Shepherd.” 

“Okay, lemme get this straight,” Matt said between fits of laughter. “You’re a pet?”

“We already discussed this,” Ethan said flatly.

“I know, I’m just trying to wrap my mind around how anyone would think it’s okay to keep someone like you as a pet,” Matt said. “Is – is this culture shock?”

Ethan shrugged. “I wouldn’t know, this is the first time I’ve met someone raised in the human world. Don’t you people keep pets?”

“Well, we do, it’s just that they don’t usually talk,” Matt replied. “Parrots are just weird, but usually when someone says ‘Hey, this is my pet’, you don’t expect the pet to start chatting with you on last night’s ball game.”

“I don’t usually talk to people anyway,” Ethan said. “Do you want me to stop talking?”

“No! No, it’s fine. Talk all you want.”

Ethan smiled a bit, settling into the corner of the couch with a pillow on top of him. “Hey, when’s dinner?” he said, his voice muffled.

“I don’t think there is a set dinnertime,” Matt said. “I mean, Andrew usually eats at the same time every day, but he never yells at Nate or me for eating whenever.”

“So can it be dinnertime now?”

Matt thought for a moment. “Sure. Let’s go raid the fridge.”

\-----

“What exactly are you two doing?”

Ethan spun around sharply, holding onto his pilfered food as tight as he could without crushing the packages. “I’m sorry,” he said quickly, cowering slightly.

“And what about you?” Andrew said, turning his attention on Matt.

“Ethan was hungry, and I thought he deserved a treat,” Matt replied.

“Was it really necessary for him to pick out his own treat?” Andrew said, kneeling and pulling the package of raw beef out of Ethan’s grasp. Ethan handed it over sadly, then started slowly putting food back in the fridge. Once he was done, he went back to the living room in miserable silence. 

“What was that about?” Matt hissed. “He was happy! Probably for the first time in ages, if not ever!”

“Look, I know you people hold pets in the same regard as humans,” Andrew said. “We don’t. And if you get him used to doing whatever he wants, it’ll be nigh impossible to switch him back.”

Matt stared at him, openmouthed, for several seconds. “Do you have any idea how awful you sound right now?” he said. “He’s not some animal to be trained. He’s just as much a person as you or I, and he damn well deserves to be treated like one.”

“Matt, he’s _not like us_ ,” Andrew said. “Werewolves, werecats, and all the like are practically animals. Their minds and powers are halfway there already. And besides, if we just went along with what you’re used to, Ethan won’t be able to cope with the change.” 

Matt glared at him, fighting not to cuss him out then and there, and stomped back to the living room. Ethan was lying on the floor, watching the flickering fireplace.

“I’m sorry about that,” Matt said, sitting next to him. “Are you okay?”

Ethan didn’t respond except for a small “hmpf” and a shrug.

“You, uh, you wanna go for a run?” Matt asked. “Might help get your mind off things.” 

Ethan shook his head. “No. I want chicken.”

Matt nodded, getting up and going to the fridge. He took out a half-full package of chicken and took it back to the living room, setting it in front of Ethan. The boy sniffed at the package, then looked up at Matt anxiously.

“Go ahead,” Matt said, gesturing to the package. “It’s yours.”

“But Andy –”

“He just doesn’t want people raiding his fridge,” Matt said. “If he gets mad, I’ll deal with him.”

Ethan nodded, taking out one of the drumsticks and tearing off strips of meat. “Thanks,” he said, almost inaudibly. “Can we go for a run tomorrow?”

“If it’s not too cold, sure,” Matt replied.

The two of them sat by the fire for a while, and as they spoke, Ethan gradually drifted off to sleep. Matt took a bundled blanket off of a chair, gently draping it over the boy, and went to his room to try and get some sleep.

\-----

Andrew sat on the porch in silence, writing in one of his many journals. He’d gone through hundreds over the decades – who knew where half of them were by now.

_Today has been an interesting day,_ he wrote.  _I met up with some old friends at a rather inopportune time, found out that Jack has gone missing, and let Nathan leave at the worst time possible. And to top it all off, I may or may not have a werewolf now. I don’t know if I’ll be able to deal with it all – what with all these, dare I say, young people, I’m beginning to feel my age. I wish you were here to help. All of my love, Andrew._

He closed the journal, clipping the pen to the cover. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly before getting up to head inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Discord friends are worried about Ethan. 
> 
> Also, I know the dialogue is a little janky, but I've been so absorbed into one of my other works (which looks like it may end up being a full-length novel!) that I literally forgot about this story until the notification popped up telling me to publish, and I didn't have time to edit. (Don't worry about next week's chapter being late -- it's already half done.)


	5. Chapter 5

I stepped out of the car, stretching my legs a bit before heading up the stairs to the house. “Got anything to drink?” I said, sitting down in the living room. 

“If you’re referring to alcohol, there’s plenty in the cabinet,” Tyler said. “If you’re referring to a meal, there’s a few pints left – and, please, not on the couch.”

“I actually meant both,” I said, getting up and taking out a half-full bottle of whiskey. “And, I’m not a messy eater like Jack. I at least try to clean up after myself.”

I poured myself a drink, adding a half-shot’s worth of whiskey to the glass, and went back to the living room, standing until I finished my meal. “You got the good stuff this time, I see,” I said, raising the glass. “AB-positive?  How’d you get your hands on that?”

“The same way I always do,” Mark said. “I thought that when we found Jack, he might like a treat, and plain old pig’s blood wasn’t going to cut it.” 

I downed the last sip, setting the empty glass on a table, and sat down on the couch. “So. How exactly are we going to try and find Jack?”

“The same way we searched for Matt,” Mark said. “It should work about as well this time – you don’t have the same kind of connection with Jack that you do with Matt, but you’ve known Jack for almost twenty years. That should be a more than strong enough imprint.” 

“What if he’s shielding his mind?” I said. “We’ve both told him on many occasions just how dangerous his psychic abilities are. He might be too scared to lower the barriers.”

“Then let’s hope we didn’t scare him too badly,” Mark said. “When would you like to start?”

\-----

“I’ll be just outside if you need anything,” Tyler said, closing the door until only a sliver of light shone through.

“Thank you,” I said. Normally I would have been a bit uncomfortable that anyone was this close, but Mark and I both knew the risks of telepathically contacting someone who was likely under extreme stress – the last time something like this had happened, I’d had a seizure once I found Jack. Now that I was nearly thirty years old instead of eleven, it wasn’t likely that Mark would be able to help me on his own. 

I laid back, closing my eyes as Mark pressed his fingertips to my forehead and temples. As he did, I felt a surge of energy as my perceptual sphere grew drastically.

A faint green haze tinged the entire house, left behind from Jack living here for ages. I was sure that Mark and I had left behind fields of our own, but chaos demons were practically glowing compared to us,  so I couldn’t see much other than his. 

I focused myself into a single point, picking up on things as light as frequent footprints, and meandered down the sidewalk towards the arcade Jack spent many nights at. Before I got there, though, the trail turned sharply into a side door on a tower.

_No need to take the stairs,_ I thought, floating up to the roof. There was a patch of vivid green, and then it just… vanished. Whatever had taken him away, it was untraceable. 

I returned to my body and opened my eyes, sitting up shakily. “He just disappeared,” I said, panting a bit. “He was up on a building, and then the trail just stops. I tried to find him, but –”

“It’s all right,” Mark reassured, hugging me. “You did your best. You think you can take us to where he disappeared?”

I nodded, still shaking a bit, and started to get up. “I – I think so. Let me just get a drink and then I –”

I felt a hand on my shoulder and stopped. “You need to rest, before your brain starts to fry,” Mark said.

“All right,” I said, closing my eyes with a heavy sigh.

“I’ll go get something to help you relax,” Tyler said, nodding to the two of us and leaving.

After a few moments, I shuffled out to the kitchen to get something to eat. Tyler was searching through the cupboards for something.

“How does some tea sound?” he asked me, taking down a dark glass jar filled with dry tea leaves.

“That would be nice,” I said, resting my elbows on the counter.

“Mhm.” Tyler nodded, filling a kettle with water. “Do you have any matches?”

“I haven’t seen any around here in a while,” I replied. “I can try and find some, if you need me to.”

“No, that won’t be necessary,” Tyler said. He blew a thin orange flame onto the stove, lighting it, and set the kettle on the burner before turning to me.

“We need to talk about Matthew.”

“No, no, we don’t,” I said, holding up one hand and walking back to the living room. Tyler put a hand on my shoulder, firmly but not roughly, and turned me around to face him.

“We need to talk about Matthew,” he repeated.

“You can’t kill him,” I argued. “Mark promised he would be safe.”

“He can’t promise anything about Matthew’s safety,” Tyler stated. “Matthew killed nine people – with that many victims, the fact that he was under the influence will do nothing in his favor.”

“It – it has to help somehow!” I pleaded.

Tyler shook his head sadly. “It’d do more harm than good to tell the court what drug he was dosed with. Wrath is nearly impossible to give someone without their knowledge, so they’ll never believe he didn’t take it willingly.”

“What about insanity defense?” I said. “He’d be locked up, but that’s better than being executed!” I was grasping at straws, but I didn’t care – if there was a chance I might find something, I was gonna take it.

“I’m sorry,” Tyler said quietly. “There’s nothing I or Mark can do. If Matthew ever leaves the Sanctuary, then he’s almost certainly going to be killed.”

I shut my eyes tight, refusing to let the tears fall. “No. No, he can’t die. I won’t let him.”


	6. Chapter 6

A wiry figure lay on the floor, chains locked to all four limbs. The heavy iron looked sturdy enough to hold him, but the man was still unconscious – when he woke up, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t shatter like glass.

His skin was bloody and scarred, with misshapen white burns all over his arms and back, and his ribs showed at any small movement; he hadn’t eaten in days, nor had he seen light.

A door creaked open, and a man in a gray suit walked in, crouching next to the chained figure. “Wake up, Jack” he said quietly, his voice distorted by the bone-gray mask he wore. A crude skull, much like a child’s drawing, had been etched into it.

Jack shifted slightly, though the motion caused him visible pain, and struggled to sit up. The chains weighed him down so his back was hunched, and his head was down, his once-soft green hair now stringy and matted with blood.

“Look at me.” The man stood in front of Jack, tapping his foot impatiently. After a few seconds of no response, he growled, pulling Jack’s head up sharply by his hair. Jack whimpered softly, too weak to fight back.

“What do you want?” he whispered, gritting his teeth against the pain in his scalp.

“Your daddy’s gonna be here in a few days,” the man said. “Gonna take both of us to the Capitol City.”

“For what, your trial?” Jack laughed, wincing in pain.

The man let go of his hair, punching him hard enough to move him. “For the ceremony,” he answered, in that smooth, quiet voice Jack had come to fear over two decades ago. “Usually a lower demon is enough, a werefolk or changeling. But an elemental… the power released would be immense. Your sacrifice will save hundreds, thousands even. And this time will be the last.”

He knelt next to Jack, lifting his chin gently. “You don’t have to be afraid, Jack,” he said. “You won’t die.”

“I’d rather I did,” Jack hissed, spitting at the man.

“No, Jack,” the man said, shaking his head. “You don’t want to die. You know that as long as you’re alive, you can try to escape.”

He stood, looking down at Jack. “You’ll never succeed, of course, but you can try.”

And with that, he walked out, the door shutting with a clang. Jack slowly got to his feet, shuffling to the small window in the door. It was little more than a mail slot, but it was enough to see through.

The guards were still there, each carrying a gun, and just beyond the edges of the door, he could see a faint orange glow from the amber stones carrying the binding spells.

He sank to the ground, his chains clinking almost musically. Tears trickled down his face, cutting trails through the dirt and dried blood and showing the deathly pale skin underneath.

_Mark, please, if you can hear me, get me out of here,_ he pleaded silently.  _I’ll do anything._

\-----

I paced back and forth, trying to  discern any details I could. The flat tarred roof of the building radiated heat, a relaxing respite from the December chill. 

“You picking anything up?” Tyler called from the doorway. 

“Not enough,” I replied, pointing to an AC pipe. “They were sitting there, and then they vanished.”

“They?” Mark asked. “More than one? Who was Jack with?”

“I can’t tell,” I answered, running a hand over the sheet metal. “No human life force, not an elemental – there was someone else here, but I can’t tell anything about them other than that.”

“Probably some kind of ghost, then,” Tyler said with a nod. “Well, if that’s all you can find, then I’ll head home and get in contact with my network.”

“No, no, I’m – I’m sure I can find something more,” I said, raising a hand. “I’m just… not really sure how to go about it.”

“Don’t strain yourself,” Mark said. “If you can’t find anything, you can just say so.”

I  shook my head, sitting down on the pipe. I aligned myself as best I could with where Jack had been sitting, looking around from his perspective to try and figure out what he might have seen. 

A fence, a few satellite dishes, an eight-foot-tall antenna – nothing meaningful.

“There’s nothing,” I said, standing up. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Mark said, putting an arm around my shoulders. “You did your best.”

\-----

I couldn’t get any sleep that night. Every time I started to drift off, I saw a flash of something horrific – Jack tied up, dead or dying, in horrible pain,  or worse . I could see the terror in his eyes. 

_I’m gonna find you,_ I thought.  _I have to._

Unable to get any rest, I started pacing in the living room, fidgeting with a candlestick. My knuckles went white as I gripped the cold brass, and my hands started to hurt, then went numb.

“Are you ill, Nathan?”

I sighed, closing my eyes and loosening my grip on the candlestick. “No, I’m just… I’m fine,” I replied.

“You know you can tell me anything,” Mark said, putting an arm around my shoulders. “In eighteen years, has anything damaged that trust?”

I shrugged his arm off, sitting down on the couch. “Are you really going to protect Matt?” I asked, my voice nearly inaudible.

“Of course!” Mark exclaimed. He sat next to me, lowering his voice after his outburst. “Of course I’ll protect him.”

“Tyler said you couldn’t,” I blurted out, feeling the first cold tears roll down my face. “He – he said that if Matt ever left the Sanctuary, he would be killed.

Mark’s eyes flashed amber-red, and a wave of heat surged off of him before he regained his composure. “He is wrong,” he stated. “I will do everything in my power to protect the you and Matthew, even at the cost of my own life.”

He hugged me tight, and I buried my face in his chest, the searing heat drying my tears almost as quickly as they fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so, I'm sorry I didn't get this posted last week -- it wasn't even half done, and aside, it was my birthday, so I thought maybe I should take the day off. I'll try to keep with more consistent updates.


	7. Update

Hey, guys. I'm sorry for the slow updates, but I've been caught up with some other books -- a dystopian story called _Ghosts_ , a cyberpunk dystopian called _Silicon Soul_ , a horror story called _Ornithophobia_ , and a sci-fi novel called _Caurinus_. The latter is my biggest story by far, bigger than the rest of my current projects combined. Altogether, I'm writing about a page (600 words) on each story per week, and any stories with chapters have to have at least 1000 words per chapter, so... you see my dilemma.

I will probably not be able to update this story every week. I should have just come out and said it earlier, so this segment is my apology for not doing so.

Edit: I don't know why this chapter has notes at the end, I didn't add them, but oh, well.


	8. Chapter 8

Matt yawned, squinting at the vivid white moonlight streaming through his window. The sun was just past the horizon, and the cloudless sky was filled with stars. Something in the protective field was able to clear light pollution; these were the clearest skies for miles around.

He stared out the window, letting his mind wander. _If only Nate were here,_ he thought, idly running his thumb over the softly glowing ring. 

His  thoughts were rudely interrupted by  a voice. 

“Hi.”

Matt nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden word, looking over to the door, where the sound had come from. Ethan was sitting on the floor, watching Matt curiously.

“So… you wanna go for a run?” Ethan asked with barely restrained excitement.

“Not right now,” Matt grunted, pulling the blankets up over his head. 

“But it’s dark out,” Ethan protested, jumping up on the bed. “Aren’t vampires supposed to be super energetic at night?” 

“You are the only person here with that much energy at any –” His last words were cut off as Ethan inadvertently jumped directly on his stomach.

“Oh, I’m- I’m sorry,” he said as Matt gasped for breath.

“It’s fine,” Matt coughed. “Hey, you’ve clearly got some free will, why don’t you just go for a run by yourself?”

“Because I’m not allowed to go out at night alone,” Ethan mumbled. “Tyler thinks I’ll run off.”

“And would you?”

“…yes.”

Matt sighed, rubbing his likely bruised side, and got up. “How far are we going?”

\-----

Half an hour later, Matt had just about fallen asleep, while Ethan showed no sign of losing steam.

“How can trees be so interesting?” he said, yawning.

“Oh, there’s so many reasons!” Ethan replied excitedly. “Some of them have that wonderful tree smell that people put in candles, and others don’t; the leaves have a really weird texture, there’s tiny little swirls and patterns in the bark –”

“Okay, I get it,” Matt said, smiling despite his irritation. “So when are we heading back?”

Ethan’s face fell, and he scuffed his foot sadly. “I mean, if you really wanna go back home now, I guess we can…”

Matt sighed, rubbing his forehead. “I’ll make you a deal,” he said. “I’m going to bed, whether you’re coming or not. You can stay out here if you promise to be back on the front porch by sunrise. Deal?”

“Deal!” Ethan hugged him tight around the shoulders and spinning around with Matt in tow. The teen was surprisingly strong, able to lift Matt off the ground with barely any visible effort.

With that, he ran off into the woods. Matt stared after him, then shook his head and went back to the house.

\-----

The next morning, he was woken up by a knock at the door.

“Just a second,” he said, pushing hair out of his face.

“Where’s Ethan?” Andy asked without waiting for him to open the door.

“I let him spend the night outside, why?”

He opened the door and was met with a printed photo of a scruffy brown dog running down a road. “One of my friends sent me this,” he said. “This picture was taken five miles away, and they never saw this dog come back the other way.”

“So what? You can’t be sure that’s Ethan,” Matt said.

“I trust my friends,” Andrew replied, his tone deadly serious. “Tyler has left Ethan here to stay a few times before, and every time, he told me not to let him outside on his own. He’s a habitual runaway.”

Matt felt his heart sink into his shoes as he realized what he’d done. “I – I didn’t know,” he stammered, his voice a whisper. “He promised –”

“Of course he promised,” Andrew snapped, his eyes flickering amber. “He wants to get out! He’s probably halfway to the city –”

He cut off as the floor started shaking, then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as the earthquake subsided. His eyes faded back to green, and he shook his head. “Sorry. I let my temper get the better of me again.”

“No harm done,” Matt said, leaning back a bit. _Holy shit. I knew he was ancient, but I had no idea he had that kind of power._

“If you don’t mind, I’m… I need to go lie down for a bit,” Andrew said, turning and walking away slowly.

Matt watched him leave, then glanced out the window. It was still night, with the moon about a foot from the horizon – he would have an hour and a half to look for Ethan before he had to turn around and come back.

\-----

“Ethan?” Matt called, sweeping the flashlight back and forth across the dirt road. “You there?”

As he walked, he gradually became aware of someone watching him. _Ethan?_ he thought, turning around to face his observers.

Two young children, a boy and girl, stood on neighboring fenceposts. They looked… off, somehow. Both had inky black hair, eyes, and clothes, darker than Nate’s by a mile – it almost looked as if they were clothed in pure darkness – and their skin was as white as bone. Literally; at first glance, Matt thought they were reanimated and costumed skeletons.

Matt stopped, then hesitantly walked towards them. “Hello?” he said quietly.

The two children never moved, and yet they always maintained perfect eye contact with him as he approached.

“U-Um…” Matt tapped his foot nervously as he slowly realized he was stuck here. “Have either of you seen a dog run by here, a few hours ago?”

The two kids pointed down the road in perfect unison, moving nothing but an arm each.

“Thanks,” Matt mumbled just loud enough for them to hear, then turned to leave. As he did, he felt a cold hand on his arm.

The girl stood next to him, her eyes drilling into him. “You’re not welcome here,” she said, her voice ringing in his head.

“I’m… I’m sorry?”

The girl stepped back, never breaking eye contact, and went back to the post, where she and the boy stood motionless.

_Okay…_ Matt walked back to the road, running the way the two kids had pointed. 

\-----

He found Ethan about two miles away, chasing a bird with a broken wing. 

_Shit!_ Matt raced towards him, trying to grab him, but he didn’t make it in time. 

Ethan scooped up the injured bird, bringing his cupped hands close to his face, and… let the bird go. It flew off, showing no sign of its injury – not even damaged feathers. 

Ethan watched it fly away, then turned to Matt, smiling. “Master taught me that,” he said. 

Matt skidded to a stop, kicking up gravel and dust. “What did you do?” he asked, panting from the sprint. 

“I can do little heals,” Ethan replied. “It’s not much, maybe a broken finger or a bad cut, but I’m still learning.” 

“So you – you weren’t trying to eat the bird?” 

“No!” Ethan stared at him, aghast. “Why would I do that?” 

“Well, because you’re a… a…” Matt smiled awkwardly. “Werewolf…”

“Oh, I see how it is,” Ethan said, putting his hands on his hips in mock anger. “Werewolves are people, too, you know!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! It's taken me two weeks to write and publish this -- mostly cause of stress and writer's block, but also because my newest project is finally ready to release! 
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/16388837
> 
> It's pretty different from this -- for one thing, it's sci-fi, and it's a hell of a lot longer. But I hope you all enjoy it. I'll be posting one chapter a week; there are two up now because the first chapter is short enough to read without scrolling.


	9. Chapter 9

“I’m gonna head out,” I said as I put on my jacket.

“All right, but be careful,” Mark replied. “Do you have your knives?”

“Two in the sleeves, one on the hip, one in my shoe,” I said, gesturing to each place. “I’ll be fine. I swear.”

“If anything goes wrong, just call for me,” Mark said. “You remember how, right?”

“I’ll be fine,” I repeated more insistently before heading out the door.

\-----

I sat down at the bar, watching the crowds. Whoever had taken Jack would probably come here; he wouldn’t dare go back to the house, and this was the next best place to find any of us.

_On second thought, he might go back to the house anyway,_ I considered.  _Someone powerful enough to take out a borderline psychotic chaos demon without leaving evidence wouldn’t be too concerned about a fire elemental, and a siren wouldn’t even be a blip on his radar._

So had I made a mistake?  _No, this is the best course of action,_ I told myself.  _If he comes here, then I can meet him; if he goes to the house, Mark and Tyler will be there waiting for him._

I went to the bar, pouring myself a drink to settle my nerves. I couldn’t get drunk as easily as a human, but it helped nonetheless.

“Well, I guess it ain’t stealing if you own the place.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin when the man spoke. “Yeah, I guess not,” I replied, setting the glass down slowly and turning around. “What can I help you with?”

He was a giant of a man, with military-cut gray hair and piercing blue eyes. I couldn’t see any weapons on him, but he looked like the type of person that wouldn’t need any.

“Cut the crap, you know why I’m here,” the man said, sitting down. He waved a hand, and the dozen or so people in the bar quietly and obediently filed out. 

N ow that it was just the two of us, I started to realize I was probably about to die. I walked over to the man, sitting on the stool next to him, and finished my drink. “Where’s Jack?” I said. 

“You really think I’m gonna tell you?” the man replied with a rough laugh. “No, no. That would be too easy, wouldn’t it?” 

“Where is he?” I repeated, more forcefully.

The man turned to look me in the eye. “You’re a siren, right?” he asked, though his tone said he already knew the answer. “You can’t hurt me. Not on land.  Here…”

His arm shot out, and I tried to dodge, but I was a second too late. His fingers locked around my neck, and he picked me up like a toy and pinned me against the wall, at least a foot off the ground.

“Here, you’re in _my_ territory,” he growled. 

_Rock demon,_ I realized as I started to asphyxiate.  _Like Andy, but meaner._ Andrew’s family was sandstone; from the look of this guy, I guessed he was granite or slate. 

“If you kill me, you’ll never get what you want,” I rasped, struggling to pull myself up on the man’s arm and get a little air.

“I know,” the man said. “That’s why I haven’t snapped your neck yet. Tell me where Matthew is, and I’ll kill you quickly. Keep him from us, and it’ll be slower than you can believe.”

“What do you want him for?” I asked, hoping to stall long enough to focus my thoughts.

“You don’t want to know,” the man said, his grip tightening. I felt my windpipe start to collapse just as the sparks started to crawl down my spine.

_Too late._

I grit my teeth as  my limbs started to fuse with my torso. My body narrowed, and my skin turned to shiny jet-black scales. The pressure on my throat all but vanished. 

I fell to the ground, fully morphed into a black cobra, and hissed at the man, baring much more impressive fangs than I had in human form.

“What in the…” The man brought his foot down hard on my tail, but I yanked it out of the way, wrapping the last foot or two around his ankle and pulling him down.

I coiled around his neck and chest, constricting just enough that he had trouble breathing. “Tell me where Jack is,” I hissed, “or I’ll kill you right here.”

“I’d like to see you try,” the man said, coughing. “I know what you are, you’re no match for us.”

_Us?_ “ Who’ s with you?” I said, moving closer with my fangs showing. 

The man only smiled, in the way that only someone who has completely lost his mind can smile. “You don’t remember, do you?” he said. “Poor child. If only you knew what that man took from you…”

And with that, he  vanished. I flopped onto the floor, no longer supported by him,  and just sort of lay there, trying to process what he’d just told me. 

_He could have been lying,_ I told myself.  _But then again, I don’t remember much from before I met Mark… and he doesn’t like to talk about anything before I was about ten._

The door burst open, and Mark and Tyler ran in.  Tyler nearly stepped on my tail before he saw me on the floor. 

“Nathan, are you okay?” Mark said, sitting on the floor – probably out of worry that I couldn’t get up or morph back.

“I’m fine… I think,” I said as I shifted back to human form. “But we have some things to talk about ASAP.”

“You met the people who took Jack?” Tyler said as Mark and I stood.

“One of them, yeah,” I replied. “But from the way he was talking, near the end, it sounds like there’s a whole lot more out there.”

Mark’s eyes widened, and he glanced back at Tyler. “Can you wait outside, please?”

Tyler nodded, heading out to wait by the door.

Mark turned back to me, lowering his voice. “What exactly did this man say to you?” he asked.

“He said, ‘You don’t remember, do you?’” I said, repeating his precise words. “And, ‘If only you knew what that man took from you.’” 

Mark sighed, looking down at the floor. “This is exactly what I hoped would never happen,” he said under his breath. He looked up at me with the faintest hint of tears in his eyes. “She found you,” he said, his voice cracking. “And now she has a bargaining chip to get you back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got my time all messed up, so this is updating on Wednesday at 0121 instead of sometime on Tuesday. Oops. 
> 
> Also, plot holes will be better covered, since I've started sending chapters to Mom early, before I post them, so I can fix stuff.


	10. Chapter 10

Jack paced in his cell, his heavy chains scraping whitish-gray lines on the concrete floor. His body appeared translucent, signaling not anger or excitement, but extreme hunger. He had barely been fed at all in the days he’d been here, and the guards were getting wise to this – they were checking on him less and less, to avoid being eaten themselves.

_They’ve gotta let me out eventually,_ he thought, his mind racing. _They know they can’t keep me locked up here forever._

He couldn’t stand being trapped; whether his prison was a cage like this one, a contract, or a significant other. Relationships were just uncomfortable and eventually boring for a creature like him, but physical restraints had a more personal reason.

When he was four, his powers started to develop, but of course, not many four-year-olds could be expected to control the kind of power that came with his demonic nature. His adopted mother could barely handle a normal child, let alone a chaos demon, so she did what any rational person would do when faced with this situation.

She chained him up and locked him in the basement.

For what felt like years (but was later learned to be only eight months), Jack saw no light except for what little came under the door. His tiny body was nearly immobilized by the chains, and he nearly went irreparably insane. At one point, he had fought the shackles hard enough to rip off a good portion of the skin around his neck, leaving a scar to this day.

And then… there was crying.

His mother had gotten pregnant and given birth to her own child. A little boy, Jack guessed after seeing more blue than pink cloth scraps in the trash.

The adult Jack fell to the floor, hyperventilating as he slowly became more and more trapped in the memories.

_She doesn’t want a monster. She has a son now. She doesn’t need me. She’s gonna kill me, or worse._

But she didn’t kill him; in fact, now that she had her hands full with her new son, she all but forgot about Jack. Jack eventually freed himself from the chains, no longer afraid to use his full strength, and for the next several years, he and his “mother” were practically strangers living in the same house. The little boy, Isaac, adored Jack, following him around the house constantly.

When Jack was eight and Isaac was four, things started getting bad again. Objects would disappear, and Jack would be punished for stealing them, sometimes being beaten so badly he could barely move. It was only when Jack saw a bottle of vinegar vanish in a puff of chalk-gray dust at Isaac’s touch, almost two years after the chaos began, that he realized what was going on.

Isaac was a Nihilus demon.

\-----

Jack lay curled up in the closet in the middle of a heap of old ratty bedding, staring up at the ceiling. His wrist ached from a fight earlier, but he could ignore it.

There was a faint knock at the door, and Jack growled under his breath as he slid it open.

“I had a bad dream,” Isaac said, his voice muffled by his cracked skeleton mask. He’d had it for years, but couldn’t bear to part with it; he hardly ever took it off, even to sleep.

“You want a hug?” Jack asked, shifting over as best he could in the pile of blankets. Isaac crawled in, snuggling into Jack’s side. It was extremely cramped, but not uncomfortable enough for Jack to want to get up.

“So,” Jack said, propping himself up on an elbow, “what was your bad dream about?”

“I was running really fast,” Isaac said, making small running motions. “I could see trees up ahead, but when I got near them, they turned white and fell apart. Then I –” He started to hyperventilate, clinging to Jack tightly enough to bruise.

“It’s okay, you’re safe here,” Jack reassured, hugging him. “You don’t have to tell me if it’s that bad.”

“I-I’m fine,” Isaac said. “I was running, and I saw you, but you were this – this big green monster. And I tried to hug you, but my hands just went through, and then you disappeared, just like the trees. And then I was alone.” He sniffled behind his mask, lifting it just enough to wipe his nose on his sleeve.

“Well, that’s never going to happen,” Jack said, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. “I’m never going to leave you alone. I promise.”

\-----

“ _I promise.”_

Those words still hurt. Seeing Isaac in the window, hearing the child’s screams for help as the flames leapt higher and higher, it never faded from his mind.

Isaac was only seven years old when he died.

That’s what Jack had thought, anyway. But the skull mask was unmistakable; even after nearly twenty years, the boy – now a very angry, vindictive man – still wore it.

Isaac had taken on his role as demon far more strongly than Jack ever could. And now, with Jack in chains once more, he could finally take his revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, I couldn't write more in this one without it feeling weird.


	11. Announcement and Apologies

Hey, people. Uh, this is probably kind of upsetting to those of you who were waiting for an update... there's not gonna be one. Not exactly.

I am currently working on a lot of projects, most notably an original novel called _Caurinus_ , as well as a series of short stories focused on a telepath named Indigo. I didn't really mean to abandon this story -- I want to work on it, but I'm pretty stuck right now, and I don't think this draft is going anywhere. 

I'm planning on fully revamping these stories, with a lot of new concepts and a few changes to the plot, the most significant of which is that I'll be toning down the NatePat ship a _lot_. (Don't get me wrong, I love NatePat, but with the way the story is going, it just seems kinda awkward and pointless, at least the way it is now.)

The new version of the story will have a different title -- working idea is _To See The Sun_.

I have AO3-style PDFs of the original, complete drafts, linked here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z6Y0bROP9js8OHNj4rc1pUcNhSSmMUtu/view?usp=sharing (Once Bitten)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DY1XlnpjZaKkOzoBAS5npXPvVf0XziGL/view?usp=sharing (Golden Eyes)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17jerKUuusF-XJbxMf5GRPBqQbqPIHbDR/view?usp=sharing (Son of Shadow)

They're not as good as the online versions, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging. When you read them, keep in mind that they have a different plot than the online versions, so read them as a separate story. 

I fully intend to get back to this story -- eventually. With how  _Caurinus_ is progressing, it might be a while. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is Wilford the cat: https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/442590834517504000/Windu1IW.jpeg


End file.
